Chapo Trap House

In a more serious episode, we talk to author and journalist Nick Bryant about his 2009 book “The Franklin Scandal: A Story of Powerbrokers, Child Abuse & Betrayal.” We’ve mentioned the Franklin Credit Union scandal in passing on the show before, but it begins with the collapse of the Franklin Credit Union in Omaha, Nebraska in 1988 due to rampant corruption and embezzlement of its manager, Lawrence E. King, Jr. Soon after, King was accused, along with GOP lobbyist Craig Spence, of orchestrating a massive child prostitution ring, shuttling minors between Omaha and D.C., and using their solicitation to blackmail high ranking political figures. Bryant’s work examines the evidence behind this, and we discuss the scandal, the victims, the cover up, intelligence agency connections of its perpetrators, and the crucial links between intelligence-led sexual political blackmail operations of the past with the Epstein case today. Follow Nick on Twitter here: @nick__bryant Find more info, Nick’s book and Nick’s blog on

Cameron & Musk as the angel and devil of modern man. Subscribe today for access to all premium episodes! www.patreon.com/chapotraphouse

Author, anti-crypto advocate (and yes, film & TV star) Ben McKenzie stops by to talk Cryptocurrency. We discuss the lies & fraud at the center of Crypto, the use of celebs to boost the scheme, and his experiences traveling to the Miami Bitcoin conference and a Bitcoin mining server farm to research his forthcoming book. Keep an eye out for Ben and Jacob Silverman’s forthcoming book. You can find some of their recent writing on the topic in Slate here: https://slate.com/author/ben-mckenzie

We discuss the ramifications of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. Subscribe today for access to all premium episodes www.patreon.com/chapotraphouse

Fighting suppression from Joe Brandon’s Ministry of Truth, the boys go berserker to bravely take on the dual enemies of Dark MAGA and reactionary article-slingers who dare ask, “are all films actually fash?”

The boys discuss what the new alt-right is REALLY looking for. Subscribe today for access to all premium episodes! www.patreon.com/chapotraphouse

He is not appreciated... the boys are joined by Pod About List to talk Father Stu, the new movie from Hollywood Catholic powerhouses Mark Wahlberg, Mel Gibson, and Mel Gibson's girlfriend. Donate to Marie Newman https://marienewmanforcongress.com/ Pod About List Tour Dates and tickets https://www.swagpoop.com/shows

We just noticed it happens to be a midterms year, so your favorite presidential podcasting duo of Chris and Matt have teamed back up to relaunch our beltway insider series. We’re joined by campaign reporter extraordinaire Dave Weigel to break down the key races to watch, track the trends to follow, and generally put drills to our temples as we attempt to once again engage in American Electoral Politics. If you want to catch us a Pickathon near Portland, OR in August, tickets here: https://pickathon.com/

While reading about a focus group of conservative voters, the boys decide America might be better off if we bring back town dunces and fools. Subscribe today for access to all premium episodes! www.patreon.com/chapotraphouse

We’re getting absolutely zooted on microplastics for today’s ep, then looking at Bill Clinton’s “if I didn’t do it” article in the Atlantic on his true intentions behind NATO expansion in the 90’s, and another piece on what the Democrats can do to recapture Gen Z for the midterms.

Will talks to president of the Amazon Labor Union Chris Smalls about the successful effort to unionize the JFK8 Amazon fulfillment center on Staten Island. Subscribe today for early access to exclusive interviews! www.patreon.com/chapotraphouse

Part of Will's interview with Chris Smalls, president of the new Amazon Labor Union. Subscribe today for access to all premium episodes! www.patreon.com/chapotraphouse

The boys discuss outgoing press secretary Jen Psaki and her history with Amazon’s anti-union consulting company, some former Obama guys and their good opinions, and Jenifer Rubin’s advice for helping Dems in the midterms. Then, we take a look at a piece taking Morbius to task for failing to live up to Vampires’ potential as maligned outsiders. Find Felix’s conversation about the opiate crisis on our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/64735826 Tickets to Jacques + Friends Podcast Dream live show at Littlefield on 4/15: https://littlefieldnyc.com/event/?wfea_eb_id=262639771627

Live from Houston, we’re joined by Jake and Thomas from the Pendejo Time podcast for another movie pitch. This time we’re attempting to break into the evangelical Christian film market (think God’s Not Dead and The Reliant) with a moral fable about a boy discovering the true magic of Uncles. Listen to Pendejo Time here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/pendejo-time/ Subscribe to Pendejo Time here: https://www.patreon.com/pendejotime Follow Pendejo Time here: https://twitter.com/pendejotime?lang=en Note: I’m splitting this ep into two parts just to make it easier to keep all the Poppy material separated in case I want to collect them down the line, but 614a & b are one ep for all the Chapo archivists out there.

Live from Dallas and Houston, we finally deliver the third part of our investigation into the life and times of President George H.W. Bush. This installment looks at his time as head of the C.I.A., his involvement with various figures associated with the Kennedy assassination and its investigation, and his business dealings with various shady Houston financial institutions. Note: I’m splitting this ep into two parts just to make it easier to keep all the Poppy material separated in case I want to collect them down the line, but 614a & b are one ep for all the Chapo archivists out there.

Amber catches up with teamster Matt Maini. They discuss Teamsters for a Democratic Union’s (TDU) victory in the recent Teamsters leadership election, and what their win means for the direction of the 1.4 million member union in the near future. Listeners can help by donating to TDU and its sister organization TRF. You can also buy a super cool vintage "TDU: a Cause Worth Trucking For.... Rank & File Power" t-shirt online at https://tdustore.myshopify.com/collections/apparel/products/tdu-cause-worth-truckin-for-t-shirt

We continue to look at the domestic media response to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. This time, we’re talking about “the left” and how some of their “half-baked” ideas about foreign conflict lack serious intellectual rigor and nimbleness, curtesy of an article by “fully baked” author Eric Levitz. Please follow and support the Amazon Union drive: https://twitter.com/Amazonlabor https://www.amazonlaborunion.org/

Our live show from the South by Southwest festival in Austin, TX.

We’re back from the first leg of our tour of the South and here to look at the responses to war in Ukraine brewing in the foreign policy op-ed world. We’ve got reading series by Shadi Hamid in the Atlantic and our old friend Max Boot in WaPo, both asking “well, yes, American foreign intervention has been very bad in the past, but maybe this time it would be very good?” Tickets to Houston, Dallas and New Orleans shows still available at: https://www.chapotraphouse.com/live

We begin and end this episode with more discussion on Ukraine, what we got wrong, where it goes from here, and the media response to it. But in the middle we talk about an elephant we met and a delightful Bavarian town we passed through in northern Georgia, so, trying to lighten it up a little. Thanks to Emma and Shannon for hooking us up here in Atl!